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Dessert

Frozen Pudding

A chilled custard pudding flavored with sherry and candied fruit.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Frozen Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Soak the gelatin in 1 tablespoon of cold water and let it dissolve on low heat.

  2. Make a custard by boiling the milk, egg yolks, and sugar with the vanilla bean until thick.

  3. Remove from heat, add the dissolved gelatin, and let cool for a few minutes.

  4. Slowly stir in the cream, then let it cool completely.

Freeze and pack

  1. Add the sherry and freeze the mixture.

  2. Once frozen, make a well in the center, add the soaked fruit, and cover with the ice cream.

  3. Smooth down and pack the pudding.

Serve

  1. When ready to serve, turn it out into a glass dish.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Gelatin + creamtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,628 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  3. Sugar + gelatintop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,778 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Vanilla + sherrytop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together506 recipes

    Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).

  5. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Egg yolks
Thicken the custard and add richness and a smooth texture as they set with heat.
Gelatin
Sets the mixture so the frozen pudding holds its shape when turned out.
Rich cream
Adds fat for a creamy, smooth texture that resists icy crystals.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard and adds body and sweetness.
Sugar
Sweetens the custard and lowers its freezing point for a softer texture.

The step that matters

Make the custard. Egg yolks thicken only gently with heat; boiling too hard can curdle them and leave a grainy texture. Cook until thick, and keep the custard smooth before adding the gelatin and cream.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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